1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transferring apparatus that transfers a visible image formed on an image carrier onto a recording medium and fixes the image to the recording medium. The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus using the transferring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known an image forming apparatus that, after transferring a visible image such as a toner image formed on an image carrier to a recording sheet such as transfer paper, feeds the recording sheet into a fixing apparatus to fix the visible image. In this type of image forming apparatus, an unfixed visible image could be disturbed due to a contact of an image carrier surface to the recording sheet around an inlet, a guide plate, or the like of a fixing apparatus, when the recording sheet is to be fed into the fixing apparatus while the visible image transferred is yet unfixed.
On the other hand, there has been known an image forming apparatus where transferring processing and fixing processing of a visible image to a recording sheet are substantially and simultaneously performed by a transfer/fixing apparatus (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-145260). A transfer/fixing apparatus in this type of image forming apparatus includes a transfer member, a nip forming member that are endlessly moved while surfaces thereof are contacting with each other, and a heating unit that heats a visible image. After a visible image, which is carried on such an image carrier as an intermediate transfer member, is transferred on a surface of a transfer member, the visible image advances to a transfer fixing nip formed by contacting portions of two surfaces of endless moving members, while the visible image is heated by the heating unit. A recording sheet is fed into the transfer fixing nip in synchronization with the advancing of the visible image. The visible image on the surface of the transfer member is fixed on the fed-in recording sheet while being transferred thereon. With this configuration, transferring processing and fixing processing of the visible image to the recording sheet are substantially and simultaneously performed in the transfer fixing nip in the transfer/fixing apparatus. Thereby, after the visible image is transferred on the recording sheet, the recording sheet is conveyed so that the visible image fixed. Therefore, this configuration can avoid a problem such that the unfixed visible image is disturbed due to rubbing the image against a guide plate or the like.
However, since it is necessary to heat a visible image on a surface of a first endless moving member prior to advancing to a nip, the transfer/fixing apparatus tends to have a larger heat loss amount than a fixing apparatus that performs fixing processing only in a nip. Therefore, it is desired that the heat loss be reduced as much as possible.
The present invention has been achieved in view of these circumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a transferring apparatus and an image forming apparatus as described below. That is, the object is to provide a transferring apparatus that avoids a problem such that an unfixed image is disturbed due to rubbing of the image against a guide plate or the like, and can further reduce a heat loss amount as compared with former transfer fixing apparatus, and the like.